'I've achieved too much while being HIV Positive to be hiding from this insane society'

Rapper, poet and performance artist Mykki Blanco has revealed a secret he has been holding for five years, and he says he has finally realized he must live his truth to be truly free.

Blanco announced his status on Facebook, saying he has lived with the disease for the entirety of his career, and the weight of his secret was no longer sustainable.

"Ive [sic] been HIV Positive since 2011, my entire career. f*** stigma and hiding in the dark, this is my real life. I'm healthy I've toured the world 3 times but ive [sic] been living in the dark, its time to actually be as punk as i say I am… no more living a lie. HAPPY PRIDE."

"…its a law of physics u cannot be in the light and the dark at the same time… hiding, being afraid of stigma is exhausting, we are souls not image's… its just today for everyone else knowing but its been 5 years for me, meds, garlic, limes, yogurt lol world travel. I just cant be an image living in fear having people call me brave and it being a lie [sic]."

He continued to talk about his condition on Twitter, and his main point — that he has achieved too much while living with HIV to continue hiding it — is so powerful.